Chapter 11 Sharp Enough To Cut
sharp enough to cut
Dawn had barely begun to stretch across the sky when the clock struck six, sleep escaping both Kayden and Lana.
They’d spent most of the night talking about the absurdity that had occurred way earlier that morning and about how they’d go about getting the diner contract back.
The snow was falling heavily again, and Lana was afraid of being trapped in a house with his mother and ex.
The thought made her cringe inside. Neither wanted to get dressed and go downstairs to see if they were still there, but Lana made the first move, put on her robe, and trudged downstairs.
As she descended, the smell of fresh coffee wafted to her nose, and she instantly wanted to run back upstairs to her room, but she was too late.
As soon as she had hit the last stair, Maureen was in the dining room dressed to die in more Chanel. That was obviously her thing. She peered over at the drawing table, scanning Kayden’s sketches, while holding a cup of coffee in Lana’s favorite mug.
“Good morning,” Maureen called out as Lana reluctantly walked into the kitchen.
Lana stopped and looked at her, with the fake Cheshire smile on her face.
“Good morning, Mrs. Capshaw,” she replied and rummaged the cabinet for a different mug.
“My son is quite the talent, wouldn’t you agree?” she asked as she flipped through the plans for the house Lana hoped to live in with him someday.
“Yes, he is. It’s just a shame it’s taken you so long to figure that out,” Lana replied, pouring her coffee.
Maureen set her mug down and walked over to Lana, calm, slow, and calculating. Lana was trapped in the kitchen with her, and there was nothing to do but face the wicked witch head-on.
“You have a lot of opinions about a man you know nothing about.”
“I know plenty about him,” Lana replied.
“Can you look me in the eye and tell me you really know him?”
“I know all I need to, Mrs. Capshaw. Can you look me in mine and tell me you do?”
Maureen smirked at her and shook her head.
“Do you think this is new for him, or that you’re the first girl he’s brought up here and made promises to?”
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong again. He didn’t bring me here. Paula, your daughter who has been my best friend for years now, if you paid any attention, asked me to house-sit for her. As she’s done five times before since she built it.”
Lana put her mug down now and stood face to face with Maureen.
“You barely know your own children, do you?”
Maureen walked away from her and grabbed her coat, draped over the barstool. Heathcliff emerged from the end of the hallway with bags in his hand and nodded at Lana as he walked to the front door.
“Tell my son when he decides to come to his senses, I’ll be at the Spence Hotel until this storm blows over, and the airport re-opens. When I leave town, the offer leaves with me.”
She stalked down the hall, and Heathcliff opened the front door, and they stepped out into the frigid air. Kim emerged next from the hallway, holding a duffel bag, her nose pointed straight into the air as she made her way to the exit.
“Have a safe trip home,” Lana called out as she walked past her.
Kim stopped, dropped her bag, and stalked up to Lana.
“What’s his favorite color?” Kim asked, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes searching Lana’s face.
“What?” Lana replied, confused.
“It’s a simple question. What’s his favorite color? Or his favorite food? Hmm?”
Lana didn’t know any of this, and it bothered her that Kim was getting the upper hand.
“You have no idea who he is,” Kim continued. “Do you know how he got the scar on his shoulder or what his biggest fear is?”
Lana could say nothing. She stood there and felt the weight of the questions Kim threw at her, and a frown erupted on her face.
“You’re not from our world, honey. No one will accept you, and everyone will turn their backs on him because of it. And please don’t be fooled into thinking money isn’t important to him either because it very much is.”
Lana was ready to deck her in the face, but instead, she walked away slowly, feeling the rage inside her build.
“When he’s broke and penniless, he will come back to mommy, and he will marry me. And you? You’ll just be used up and tossed aside.”
Lana spun on her heels and stalked towards Kim. As her hand sailed through the air, it was caught abruptly by Kayden, who now wrapped his other arm around her waist from behind.
“Don’t, baby, she’s not worth it,” he said in her ear as he held her back.
“Get out,” Lana said through clenched teeth.
“You're gonna regret this,” Kim said to Kayden. She picked up her duffel bag, stomped down the foyer, opened the door, and slammed it shut behind her. The engine of a snowmobile started outside, the transportation that many in town had been using recently.
“Don’t let them get to you,” he said, still holding her from behind.
“But it’s not totally wrong what they were saying.”
“My favorite color is black,” he kissed the back of her neck, “My favorite food is shrimp, and anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
She smiled.
“My favorite TV show is full of vampires.” He chuckled and turned her around to face him.
“Those aren’t the important things to know about someone. Things like what are a person’s dreams, their desires? What kind of person are they, and who do they want to be? Those questions are the important ones, and neither she nor my mother knows any of them about me.”
“The little ones matter, even if it’s just a little,” she kissed his nose.
“We’re engaged; it doesn’t mean we’re getting married tomorrow. We have all the time in the world.” He kissed her, and she held him around his waist, the warmth of his body calming her down.
“Your mom wanted me to tell you she’s at the Spence Hotel, and she’d be there until the storm blew over.”
“Well, my mom is the last person on my mind right now. I need to make arrangements for Rachel at the hospital and have my lawyer file an injunction against my mother.”
This was getting serious fast, Lana thought.
“Coffee?” he asked and walked into the kitchen.
LANA HAD NEVER used the garage attached to the house.
She stood in the snow as Kayden pulled out a snowmobile so they could travel through the town to visit Aunt Mae.
It was a blue-and-gray Yamaha and looked very fancy by her standards.
All bundled up in his warm thermal parka, Kayden climbed on, and she climbed on behind him, wearing a parka she found stuffed in the back of Paula’s closet.
The snow was so white, he made her wear dark red-tinted shades to protect against snow blindness, whatever that was.
The scenery looked cool in the shade of red since everything was blanketed in white.
As they rode down the driveway and into the road, she couldn’t help but mourn her half-buried Ford.
The snow was so high that you could only see where the bottom of the window started.
As they slowly made their way down, the streets were silent.
A few kids and their parents were on some skis, but that was it.
No one was out. Life crawled to a halt at this time of year.
They passed Aunt Mae’s, which was, of course, still closed, and the parking lot was buried under snow, so no barbecue grill was on either.
They were open rain or shine, but apparently, snow was out of the slogan for a reason.
They turned down Patterson Court and saw a snowmobile with a seat attachment.
It was probably the one Captain Jackson used to oblige Maureen and Kim.
Kayden applied the gas as they passed the building by and drove all the way up the hill to a suburb Lana had never visited before.
Pretty soon, they were pulling up to a modest blue house with white trim, a light glowing through the windows.
It looked so warm and cozy inside. The smell of food wafting through the air affirmed to her that they had reached their destination.
This was where Aunt Mae lived. The houses in this neighborhood were all cottage-style and small, but full of charm, with smoke emitting from all the fireplace chimneys atop them.
The streets were lined with tall maple sugar trees, and although they were bare, they stood tall and proud, like generals in an army.
They both climbed off the snowmobile and soon stood on the porch of Aunt Mae’s as Kayden knocked on the door.
“Comin’,” was yelled through the other side from a male approaching.
The front door swung open, and the heat and aroma of food slammed into them like a sauna.
The man at the door was an older gentleman who had to be in his mid-sixties.
He was wearing a blue crocheted sweater with slacks, and he bent forward slightly as he held onto a cane.
What was left of his hair had grayed and receded, and the wrinkles in his face served as a testament to a long life lived.
“You picking up?” He asked, turning back toward the home’s interior.
Aunt Mae emerged from her kitchen, wiping her hands on her floured apron, curious as to who was at the door. She smirked at Kayden when she saw him, but smiled at Lana.
“Well, come on before you let the hawk in,” she said, prompting them to come inside the house.
The man closed it promptly, locking it behind him, and turned around to face them. He pointed to the couch, and they sat down.
“I didn’t know you were serving from home,” Lana exclaimed, smiling at Aunt Mae as she walked into the living room.
“You know my kitchen never closes, baby,” she replied and sat in a recliner next to a brown upholstered couch.
“What can I do for you?” She asked Kayden.
He smiled at her and removed his shades, then his gloves and ski cap.
His messy hair fell into his eyes. Seeing him was like seeing him for the first time every time, and it always made Lana’s heart skip a beat.
She removed her shades as well and could see the home in the regular light, which kind of bothered her eyes now.